


beautiful star

by tommoandbambi



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, DEAR GOD PLS FORGIVE ME, Famous/Non-Famous Au, Fluff, I DONT KNOW BUT I FUCKING FORGOT LIM, Kid Fic, M/M, Movie Star!Harry, Non-Famous Louis, i forgot liam, im just a lowly bridge troll it is hard for me to remember all of the members of this gotdam band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:12:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9046748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommoandbambi/pseuds/tommoandbambi
Summary: “You know, when I pegged you for a druglord, I wasn't exactly challenging you to make me believe that you actually are one. What is this place?” Louis says after he swallows over the mild panic that's building up in his throat over the fact that he's literally sitting in front of the cause of his teenage sexuality crisis.

or, the famous/nonfamous kid!fic AU wherein harry and louis have to host a school Christmas party and harry isn't actually a druglord.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cherrie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrie/gifts).



> disclaimer: this is hella unedited and probably super messy, but i had a lot of fun writing it. the prompt was pretty loose but i hope that the fic doesn't suck too bad! thanks for reading xx

“I’m sorry, what?” Louis nearly shrieks around a mouthful of disgustingly cold mash. 

 

Said mash flops off of his bent fork and lands on his chipped plate that has Scooby Doo’s smiling face adorned on the entirety of it with a mildly-revolting  _ thwap _ . He snarls down at the mash for a second before glancing back at his daughter, who is still staring at him with her too-wide blue eyes and her trademark dangerously sweet smile spreading across her thin lips. Her own Captain America plate is still mostly untouched, aside from the slice of bread that she devoured in the first seconds that they sat down to eat supper. She has a bit of her grape juice smeared over the top of her mouth, and he would normally be endeared if he didn't just find out that she just made him sign up for one of the things that he most detested. 

 

“ _ Volunteering.  _ You signed up for me to host your class Christmas party?” 

 

His daughter lets out a sharp, raucous laugh that dulls his panic infinitesimally just because she's so fucking cute. 

 

“ _ Well _ ,” Bea twirls her fork around some peas that Louis is absolutely certain she won't eat, “Ms. Ali said that everyone's parents had to help with a party this year, and you and Olivia’s pa are the only two that  _ haven't  _ yet, so I had to sign you up.” 

 

That makes… a lot of sense. But, still, Louis isn't too terribly pleased with the situation. It's not that he doesn't like helping out others, or that he doesn't want to spend extra time with his daughter--in all honesty, his life basically revolves  _ around _ trying to get some surplus moments with his favorite human being-- it's just that Louis cannot stand having to deal with all of the crazed mums at Bea’s school. Louis can usually get on well with women, mostly because they're snarky enough that he can form some sort of quick banter with them within seconds, but the mums with a networth of  _ billions _ always expect more of him than what he has to offer. 

 

They all always eye him so critically, looking down on him because he's an openly gay single dad that lives in a flat that is only half of the size of their massive, walk-in closets. The school that Bea goes to is extremely prestigious and honestly would be  _ way  _ out of Louis’ budget if his boss hadn't have given him a full scholarship for her to attend the private school just so that he could live closer to the London branch. The only reason that Louis agreed to letting her go to this particular school is because Bea had begged him to once he told her about his boss’s offer. This particular school is one of the top in the nation, and with its outrageous notoriety comes posh parents that will bring hell to Earth if,  _ god forbid _ , their child consumes a single ounce of artificial sugar. 

 

“But, love, we can't have a party at our house,” Louis explains slowly, wincing at how  _ he _ sounds like the stubborn child in this conversation, “the two of us hardly have enough room here, there's no possible way we can have thirty others in our small flat. I'm pretty sure that's a fire hazard.” 

 

“We’ll have the party at Olivia’s, then!” Bea concludes happily. “She never invites people over, but I'm sure her Pa won't mind!” 

 

Louis grimaces and takes another unwilling bite of the cold mash. He has never met Olivia’s father, mostly because the lad drops the girl off at an insanely early hour in the morning and he doesn't seem too keen on having the other parents seeing his face. He has overheard the mums talk about how he is supposedly ‘loaded’ and has a net worth that could easily buy out the entire school, but that's really all he knows about the bloke. 

 

“I’ll have to ask your teacher for his number tomorrow so that we can get it all sorted out,” Louis decides. “Now, eat your mash before it gets cold. You have to get big and strong if you want to keep your title as Reigning Tomlinson Arm Wrestling Champion.” 

 

Bea giggles a bit as she shovels some mash inside her mouth. She chews for a bit and laughs again after she swallows before setting down her fork. 

 

“Dad, this is awful,” she tells him bluntly. 

 

“I know,” Louis laughs. “I'm sorry, just eat your burnt roast and I’ll be sure to ask Uncle Niall to make dinner tomorrow.” 

 

He sits up and cleans off his plate in the trash, and Bea quickly follows suit. They both stand in front of the sink -, Bea on her red stepping-stool and Louis with his bare feet wiggling over the cold tile of floor -, and wash off the mismatched character plates together. Bea laughs when Louis presses suds against his chin in a makeshift beard and crosses his eyes at her when she calls him a ‘Skinny Santa.’ It's a good night. 

 

\\\

 

When Louis calls Niall and tells him about the Christmas party, his instant reply is: “I’m not going to dress up as Santa.” 

 

“You'll bloody well do anything Bea asks you to,” Louis responds easily, knowing he's right, but also doubting that he'll need Niall to dress up as some sort of shoddy, drunken Santa for a kids’ party. 

 

Louis can hear laughter that isn't Niall’s coming from the other line. Niall murmurs something unintelligible to the other person, which is probably Zayn, before speaking to Louis again. “Zayn offered to be my reindeer if I’m Santa. He even said that he would let me ride him that night--”

 

“Are you lot quite finished?” Louis interrupts, rolling his eyes. The two lads have been together ever since their first year of Uni, but they still have moments where they act like disgustingly cute lovebirds. It's adorable, and it reminds Louis of how he hasn't had any sort of romantic interaction since before Bea was even born. “Believe it or not, the reason behind me calling was actually not to get a front row seat to your weird, holiday-themed foreplay.” 

 

Louis can hear a muffled sarcastic, “What, really?” coming from Zayn. 

 

“I actually wanted to tell you that the person that has to host the party with me is Olivia’s father.”

 

The line is quiet for a moment, aside from some telltale shuffling that probably means that Niall and Zayn are cuddled up in their full-sized bed. Louis returns to picking up a pen and marking all over one of the transcripts that he's supposed to finish by the end of the week as he waits for them to reply to him properly. 

 

“Wait, Olivia,” Niall says after a few minutes. “Isn't that the girl without a last name?” 

 

“Babes, she obviously  _ has  _ a last name, her dad just doesn't want anyone else in the class to know it.” Zayn explains to him quickly, a smile evident in his voice. 

 

“Details,” Niall says quietly, and then there's an obvious noise of the two kissing sweetly that makes Louis want to retch. “But, really,  _ is it _ ?” 

 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Louis replied excitedly. “I finally get to figure out whoever her illustrious father is. I wonder if he really  _ is  _ a MI-5 agent like how some of the mums have said.”

 

“Well, if he told you, then he'd have to kill you,” Niall practically yells, and he seems a bit happier about that prospect than he should be. 

 

“I still think he's probably just some super- old man with a bunch of money and, like, zero time for his kid,” Zayn cuts in. 

 

“But that wouldn’t be as fun,” Niall says. “I hope that he's actually like, a famous footie player or something, and that he’ll give you season tickets for free.” 

 

“What if he's an  _ Olympian _ ,” Louis wonders out loud. 

 

“What if he's a  _ druglord _ ,” Zayn counters teasingly. 

 

“Either way, I'm so excited that you finally get to find out the story behind the Mystery Kid. It's a Christmas  _ miracle. _ ” 

 

\\\ 

 

It turns out that Louis might actually  _ not  _ be able to figure out the story behind the kid without a last name. Niall and Zayn are going to be so put out. 

 

“I'm not sure if I can give you his contact information,” Bea’s teacher explains apologetically the next afternoon. “I had to sign a NDA, and I feel like if I just gave out his number, that would be a breach of contract.” 

 

“Oh,” Louis says, eyebrows furrowing together. 

 

“It's not that I don't trust you, Mr. Tomlinson., Bea adores you and you're always so good with the kids.” Ms. Ali spares him a soft smile, brown eyes crinkling nicely and her Middle Eastern accent thickening slightly as she explains quickly. “It's just, this is a special circumstance. Olivia’s father really values their privacy.” 

 

“Oh, I understand that, really,” he says. 

 

Louis doesn't understand. But, he's also pretty sure that one of the SmartBoards the class uses is more expensive than his old family home, so he doesn't really know how things are in this weird, posh kind of world. “It's just, my flat isn't big enough to host the kind of party that these kids are expecting. I also have to work a lot of hours just to pay for this kind of thing and I really could have used his help.” 

 

Ms. Ali purses her lips and nods. It's no secret amongst the parents and even her that Bea is only here on scholarship, and that his monthly pay couldn't rival some of the daily allowances that these kids get. He glances over to where Bea and the other children are playing learning games with bloody  _ iPads  _ while they wait to be picked up by their parents. Olivia is off to the side, a thick book sat in her lap and a silky scarf that Louis would bet is worth more than his phone keeping her unruly brown curls out of her eyes. 

 

“You know what, I’ll try to figure this out for you,” Ms. Ali decides aloud. “I will talk to him when he comes by to pick up Olivia later and ask if he's interested in getting your number. I can't make any promises, but if he decides that he wants to help, I can have him send you a text. If not, you and I can try and figure out something else together.” 

 

Louis smiles, feeling a weight lift off of his chest. He was really worried that he was going to have to do all of this by himself. “Thank you so much. I really want to make this Christmas special for all of them.”

 

“I'm sure he will agree. He loves Olivia a lot-- he just worries for her a bit. I will definitely ask him this afternoon.” 

 

Louis grins and lets himself be led by her to the locker area nestled in the corner of the massive classroom. He grabs Bea’s beat-up Vans backpack that is actually a hand-me-down from Louis and her coat and hat with a smile. 

 

“Thank you so much for this,” Louis tells her gratefully. 

 

“It's no trouble at all,” she responds warmly.

 

Louis shoots her one last smile before walking up to Bea. She is already powering off the iPad and handing it off to another kid by the time he stands in front of her. 

 

“Hi, Dad!” she says happily, throwing her arms around his legs in a hug. Louis seits down her things and leans down to pick her up and pull her into a tight hug. She's quite short for her age, but he can tell that she's almost too big for him to keep picking up. It breaks his heart. 

 

“You'll never believe what happened today!”

 

Louis presses a quick kiss to her thin, brown hair before looking at her face. She is smiling so intensely that he fears that her jaw might break, and it only takes him a millisecond before he realizes that she has lost one of her front teeth. She holds up a little necklace shaped as a tooth and shakes it proudly in his face and Louis can't help but let out a merry laugh at how ecstatic she is. 

 

“You lost a tooth!” Louis says proudly. “And a front one, even. Perfect for our family Christmas photos!” 

 

Bea laughs again and presses a quick kiss to his cheek before wiggling so that he will let her down. He helps her into her winter coat and zips it up nicely over her necklace so that she won't lose the small tooth inside. She puts on her own hat and pulls a scarf out of her backpack and then he helps her secure the straps around her bony shoulders. She waves goodbye to her classmates and calls out a giddy farewell over her shoulder to Ms. Ali as Louis leads her out of the room by her hand. There's a light snow fluttering from the sky that is quickly turning to gray mush on the London sidewalks, and Louis makes it a point to lead her to jump in every puddle that they pass. The cold wind bites at his nose as they continue to make their two-block long trek back to their flat and he mentally worries that Bea might get the beginnings of a cold because he forgot to pack her some gloves today. 

 

“We will have to call Nan and tell her that I lost my tooth! She's going to cry,.” Bea says excitedly, eliciting a sharp laugh from Louis. 

 

“She probably will,” he agrees. “You're just growing up so fast! I remember when you were a little lamb with no teeth at all. You were much cuter back then.” 

 

“ _ Hey,” _ Bea howls in offense. “Take that back! I am always cute.” 

 

Louis laughs and nods, because he knows that he can't disagree. Bea is probably the cutest kid ever. 

 

“Is that Uncle Zayn’s bike?” Bea asks once they are in sight of their building. She starts to jump up and down on her small feet and pulls on Louis’ hand. “ _ It is _ . Dad! Uncle Zayn and Uncle Niall are at the house? This is the best day  _ ever. _ I have to show them my tooth!” 

 

Louis laughs and breaks into a light jog just to match the quick pace that Bea has broken into. He nearly slips over a slick patch of ice on the sidewalk, so he decides to just pick her up and run towards the door. He punches in the code and tickles her sides as they wait for the old system to finally liven up and let them in. Once it unlocks and they are bathed in the warmth of the building’s overly-aggressive heating system, he lets Bea down and shouts for her to be careful as she thunders up the stairs towards their flat. He knows that she’ll be okay, because Niall and Zayn are probably waiting at the top of the first flight to greet her and shower her with affection before going into the flat. He grabs the small amount of mail that they have and spares a quick greeting to their eternally-tired doorman before sprinting up the stairs, too. The door to the flat is cracked open and Louis can already smell pasta cooking as he closes it behind him. 

 

The telly is turned on and playing a rerun of some sort of awful kid’s show, and Louis can hear Zayn and Niall interrogating Bea about her recently lost tooth. He kicks off his scuffed shoes by the door and loosens his tie before heading to his bedroom. He changes quickly into some joggers and a looser shirt because he cannot  _ stand  _ having to wear his business clothes longer than he has to. 

 

“Lou!” Zayn’s voice hollers across the small flat. 

 

Louis takes off his socks and throws them in the general vicinity of his laundry before opening up his bedroom door, “Oh, be quiet, will you? I'm coming!” 

 

Louis walks into the kitchen and is welcomed with the sight of Niall standing over the hob stirring at the pasta and Zayn sitting on the counter with Bea perched in his lap. 

 

“Queen Bea has declared that for dessert we are having caramel dipped apples to celebrate her recent tooth loss.” Zayn informs him with a fond smile on his face. “She also says that the Tooth Fairy should visit  _ me  _ as well, seeing as I have provided moral support as she waited to lose her front tooth.” 

 

“I did  _ not _ say that last part!” Bea exclaims. “He made it up, Dad! He wants some of  _ my _ money.”

 

Louis walks over to the pair and pinches Zayn’s cheek irritatingly. “Well, we can't have that, can we? Z, stop trying to steal from my girl!” 

 

Bea giggles and so does Zayn, and they continue to banter with Zayn about how he should not steal any of Bea’s special Tooth Fairy money until Niall cuts in and announces that their dinner is ready. 

 

They all sit down around Louis’ dining table (that he bought at a yard sale for ten quid) and quietly eat their pasta. It's  _ much _ better than the mash that Louis tried to make last night, and Bea tells Niall just that after her first bite. It's not until after they've all nearly eaten everything off of their plates before Niall decides to ask Louis about the Christmas party. 

 

“Bea’s teacher said that she would try to give him my number,” Louis says around a mouthful of garlic bread. He takes a quick glance at the digital clock on the oven and wipes off his mouth. “Actually, he might have texted me by now. Let me go check.”

 

Bea claps excitedly as he stands up and he presses a quick kiss to her forehead and messes with Zayn’s perfectly styled hair teasingly on his way out of the kitchen. He grabs his phone from his room and lays down on the sofa as he unlocks it. He's mildly surprised that there actually is a message from an unknown number.

 

_ Hello, this is Olivia’s father, Harry. Am I speaking with Mr. Tomlinson?  _

 

“He texted me!” Louis yells out into the flat, and the sound of the three sets of feet thundering towards him comes shortly after. Niall is the first person in the room, his eyebrows are raised with interest and his cheeks are redder than usual with excitement. “His name is Harry.” 

 

“So I guess that he  _ is  _ an old man with no time for his kid,” Zayn says as he runs into the room, Bea right on his heels. “With a name like that and all.”

 

“No,” Niall shakes his head and falls down onto the ratty loveseat, signally for Zayn to come sit beside him. “ _ Harry _ sounds like the perfect pseudonym for a secret MI-5 agent.” 

 

“What's a say-dough-nam?” Bea asks adorably. Louis grabs her and makes her lay down beside him on the sofa. 

 

“It's a special nickname,” Louis explains easily. “And I might have to agree with Zayn on this one. He texted a bit like an old man, so my bets are on that option.”

 

Bea giggles and shakes her head, “No, Olivia’s pa is young! She told me that he isn't even as old as you yet.” 

 

That information makes Louis furrow his eyebrows, “He's younger than 26? What kind of posh and secretive lifestyle could you possibly have before you're 30?” 

 

Zayn shrugs, “I'm not sure mate. Why don't you text him back and try to get know more about him. You two  _ do  _ have a Christmas party to plan and all.” 

 

“You're right,” Louis bites his lip and taps out a quick message and presses send without looking over it. 

 

_ hey, mate !! you can just call me louis. I just need your help w the xmas party for the kids. hope your not too busy.  _

 

“Dammit,” Louis whispers. “I used the wrong type of ‘you’re.’” 

 

Bea pinches his arm and tells him that he has to put a dollar in the swear jar while Zayn laughs at him. Niall, who has been oddly quiet, let's out a loud snore from where he has fallen asleep cuddled under Zayn’s arm. Zayn smiles fondly at him and combs through his hair gently, which makes Louis roll his eyes and look back down at his phone. 

 

_ Alright, Louis. Ms. Ali told me about your situation and I am willing to help. But, only if you agree to a guideline of my own.  _

 

“What's he saying?” Zayn asks, tilting his head towards Louis’ phone. 

 

“He says he will help if I agree to a guideline.”

 

Zayn makes a humming sound in the back of his throat and continues to run his tan fingers through Niall’s hair, “Well, what's the guideline?”

 

“I don't know, but I'll ask,” Louis says as he looks down at the message thread and asks the mysterious dad about his guideline. 

 

“He is probably going to say something about how he is a druglord and you can't tell the cops his real name or something,” Zayn jokes and Louis lets out a small snort as his phone rings. 

 

_ You have to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement. It's very important to me that my identity and Olivia’s safety be kept. If you comply, then my lawyer will drop off the contract and have you sign it before 8PM tonight. If not, then Im sorry but I cannot help you with the party.  _

 

“Oh,” Louis says aloud. “Wow.”

 

“What's happening?” Zayn asks. 

 

“He wants me to sign an NDA,” Louis explains, thumbs hovering over his phone. 

 

Louis has signed NDA’s before. He has a decently successful publishing job where he works, and he has worked with celebrities before when they wanted to have a book done. He is mildly sought-after in the editing world (hence why his boss arranged for Bea to get her massive scholarship to the private school) and has signed a lot of contracts, but he's never causally met people that need him to sign NDAs before having to plan a kids party. It's all a bit odd, honestly. 

 

“Well, are you going to agree to?” 

 

“Should I?” Louis asks. “I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.”

 

“What could it hurt? Anyways, you need help with the party and I'm sure this guy will help you. I mean, you make a pretty good bit of money, but you don't quite have the salary to waste thousands of dollars on a Christmas party for third graders.”

 

“I suppose you're right.” 

 

_ sure, i'll sign. do you need my address? _

 

Harry replies almost instantaneously:  _ No, Olivia still has your address from when she sent Bea a birthday card a few weeks ago. My lawyer will be over at 8 sharp for you to sign.  _

 

_ With this all said and done, would you mind to meet me and Olivia at a coffee shop tomorrow to go over the plans?  _

 

Louis shrugged and answered with:  _ sure, but only if the place serves tea as well. we are Brits, you know.  _

 

Bea tugs on his sweater, “Can we change the channel? I want to watch  _ Frozen _ again.”

 

Louis nods agreeably even though he has stopped loving the movie as much after the fiftieth time they've watched it together. He grabs the remote and sits up so that he can grab a warm

blanket and throw it over the both of them. Zayn appears to already be dozing off, as well, and he honestly doesn't feel like he can stay up for much longer, either, even though it's only about seven. The time change always messes with his sleep schedule. 

 

“Hey, Queen Bea, you wouldn't mind if you, me, Olivia, and her Dad stopped for tea after school tomorrow, would you?” he asks gently as the opening credits come on. 

 

“Oh, that sounds like so much fun! I love Olivia, even though she's a bit quiet,” Bea grins before clapping as the scene selection screen came up. 

 

“Great,” Louis says and presses play on where they left off. 

 

He grabs his phone to see that Harry has already replied to him with a string of nonsensical Christmas and smiling emojis along with  _ Of course there will be tea. What do you take me for? A heathen?  _

 

Louis laughs and sends a final text to the Mysterious Harry:  _ no, but i do think that you might be a druglord.  _

 

\\\

 

It's a Friday, which is personally one of Louis’ favorite weekdays. Which, duh,  _ everyone _ loves Friday because it's the start of the weekend, but Louis loves it just a bit more because it's his day off from the publishing house that he works at. He has spent the entire day doing essentially nothing other than dropping Bea off at the school and lounging around in his joggers while reading over the last transcript that he needs to finish before he goes back to work on Monday. He doesn’t move until he finally has to dragged himself off of the sofa and to his room so that he could change into some proper clothes before leaving to go pick Bea up from school. 

 

He's only just slipping on his shoes when his phone chimes out a short ring. It's probably just Niall sending him the beginnings of some wild pub story that he just remembered, or Zayn asking for advice about how to  _ finally _ pop the question to Niall, and normally he would ignore the text for a bit (he's horrible at texting, really) but he still has over half an hour before he can take Bea out of her class and really hates having to stand around with the impatient mums for any longer than he has to. He fishes around in his pocket to get out his phone and also one of the hard candies that he shoved in there earlier to give to Bea as a Happy Friday treat. 

 

He pops the butterscotch in his mouth and hums when he realizes that it's actually not Niall or Zayn at all. Instead, alongside the usual myriad of texts from his mum that pile up during the day, there are a few texts from the elusive Harry. 

 

_ Hello, Louis. My lawyer has filed your signed NDA and all is well. I am very excited to begin our party planning today. I have arranged for us to meet at the Sweetea Shoppe on Fifth. It is the building with the purple door, you won't miss it. When you entire climb to the top flight and give my name to the doorman.  _

 

_ Oh no, something has came up at work and I do not know if I will be able to pick up Olivia on time.  _

 

_ I don't know what to do. I gave my driver the month off because his wife has recently given birth.  _

 

_ I think I might have to cancel. I still don't know how I can pick her up on time.  _

 

Louis huffs out a quiet laugh, reading over the messages once again while his chest loses some of its former anxious feelings. He has had his own fair share of panicked moments of realizing that there's no way to pick up Bea from school before it was too late. The ending result is usually him calling his mum or sisters and begging them to pick her up for him, and once he even rang his old mate Stan and offered him one hundred quid just to drive from Donny and pick up Bea. It's stressful, especially because a late pick up is punishable by a pretty hefty fine, and it's even worse because the other parents make it a point to spread rumors about child neglect and how awful a parent is when they miss pick up time and can't afford the time just to pick them up  _ once _ . It makes him also feel a bit better about Harry as a person. A completely awful person wouldn't be petrified to leave their child alone for a half hour. Louis licks his lips and bites down on the butterscotch before responding. 

 

_ harry, mate, take a breath !! i can pick up olivia when i get bea. we're all going to the same place anyway.  _

 

A response comes nearly immediately. 

 

_ Are you sure?  _

 

_ I am so sorry this has never happened before.  _

 

_ I am stuck in traffic over 45 minutes away from their school. There's no way I can make it in time. I am so sorry.  _

 

_ Are you seriously sure????  _

 

Louis rolls his eyes and checks the time before slipping outside of the door. He scans the hall before replying:  _ i don't mind at all, mate. ill see you later.  _

 

He pockets his phone and jumps over some discarded mail that his Uni-aged neighbor has strung all around the hallway. He can tell from the window that hangs over the stairwell that is snowing heavily outside, and he mentally hopes he remembered to dress Bea in wearing some sort of boots today. He makes the short walk to the school in record time, dodging expertly between fellow pedestrians that are trying to escape the snow as well while clenching his bare hands in the pockets of his thick jacket. He slips into the massive private school and is immediately sweating from how high the heat is turned up. He can't possibly imagine how his hot-natured Bea is faring with all of the layers he forced her to wear today combined with the warmth of the school. He climbs up a few flights of stairs and navigates the ornate halls before coming up to Bea’s classroom.  

 

Quite a few of the other mums and dads are already lounging beside the door, engaging in a bit of conversation while clutching their super smoothies in their palms. The clock that’s hung over the door shows that it is just now the time that the parents can go into the room and pick up their kids. The door clicks open to reveal a smiling Ms. Ali, who is wearing a deep maroon hijab today that goes well with her warm smile and dark eyes. 

 

“Hello, parents!” she greets, widening the door to let them file in. “Please do not forget to bundle up your kiddies before you all head out. It's quite cold today!” 

 

The mums murmur greetings to her and continue their conversations about PTA meetings or the horrors of gluten or a facebook post or whatever new thing that's trending in the parenting world today. Louis offers her a warm hello as well, but is stopped when she puts a hand on his shoulder briefly. 

 

“Olivia’s father called earlier and told me that you would be taking her with you today, is that correct?” she asks. 

 

Louis nods, “Yeah, we are meeting up to plan for the party ,but he got a bit tied up with work and won't be able to get back into this part of town until a bit later. I figured I would help him out.”

 

“Oh, that's just lovely!” Ms. Ali smiles. “I am glad that the two of you are helping each other out. Parenting can get quite lonely sometimes, it's great to get some new company. I feel like the two of you would be good for one another.”

 

“Oh,” Louis furrows his eyebrows. “Uhm.. thanks. I’ll just grab the girls and be out then. Thanks, love.” 

 

Louis spares her one last smile and slips through the door and away from the overtly-perceptive primary school teacher. He goes through his usual routine of grabbing Bea’s things from her locker and then does the same for Olivia, as well, seeing as her locker is right beside Bea’s. He throws the jackets and backpacks over his shoulder and walks towards the pair, who are seemingly engaged in a deep conversation about the massive book on Olivia’s lap. 

 

“Hello, girls,” Louis greets the two warmly as he sits down the backpacks. “What's the book that you've got there?” 

 

Bea looks up at him first, with a massive smile spread across her face as she jumps up and forces him into a tight hug. He complies and gives her a kiss on the forehead before looking down at Olivia, who is diligently marking her spot with a bookmark and has a flush painting her pale cheeks. Louis sets down Bea down and crouches down to where he's at eye level with her before outstretching a hand for her to shake. 

 

“Hi, I’m Louis, Bea’s dad.” 

 

Olivia takes his hand with her small one and shakes it firmly before sparing him a tiny smile, “Hi. I'm reading  _ The Boxcar Children _ .”

 

“Really?” Louis asks. “I've never heard of that before, you'll have to tell me more about it during our walk.” 

 

Olivia nods, a blush still on her cheeks and eyes now firmly planted on the ground. Bea throws an arm over Olivia’s shoulder. She digs her fingers into Olivia’s sides, eliciting a small laugh from her. Louis almost admonishes her for manhandling the other girl so much, but bites his tongue when she visibly relaxes at the touch. Louis has always been a pretty tactile person -- and Bea is pretty much the same as him -- and he knows that sometimes people can be uncomfortable with their type of personalities. But, thankfully, Olivia seems to be alright with it so far. 

 

“Olivia is so good at reading! She can focus more than me, so she likes to tell me about her books after she finishes them. I could never sit down for as long as she does.” Bea boasts proudly. “She's the smartest person I know, Dad!” 

 

Louis smiles at the two and grabs Bea’s jacket and helps her put it on before doing the same for Olivia. The two girls wrap themselves up in their scarves and gloves and continue to talk to each other about the book and Olivia’s favorite character as they all head out of the classroom.  

 

“Now, Olivia,” Louis begins as he takes Bea’s gloved hand in his as they step out of the warmth of the school and into the freezing outdoors. “I hope you don't mind but we're going to walk to the tea shoppe to meet your dad.” 

 

Olivia shakes her head, curls flying from where they're fighting to break free from her beanie. “I don't mind. Dad and I never get to go on walks.” 

 

“Oh, well I’m glad that you don't mind. Just be sure to hold tight to Bea’s hand. It’s cold and I don't want to lose sight of either of you.” 

 

The girls both nod and they begin walking east towards the first crosswalk that they need to get past to go to the shoppe. Louis makes sure to keep an eye on both the sidewalk and the two girls, because he definitely doesn't want to fuck up and accidentally get them lost in the midst of what's beginning to be a bloody snowstorm. 

 

When they're about five minutes away from the shoppe, Louis decides to have them all stop off in a small market so that he can grab an extra pair of gloves for the girls to put over their hands because Bea said that Olivia could feel the snow seeping through the thin material of her own gloves. After the small detour, they all continue to try to navigate their way through the heavy snow while Bea steers most of the conversation. 

 

“Dad! You know what we should do?” Bea says suddenly when he thinks they’re just a few blocks away. “We have to show Olivia how to do the Tomlinson Tales!” 

 

Bea stops and begins jumping down in excitement, gripping his hand tightly as her winter hat slips over her small forehead. Louis uses his free hand to fix her hat for her before looking at Olivia, who is staring at the two with her emerald eyes blown wide in equal parts amusement and confusion. 

 

“Do you really want to know more about the Tomlinson Tales?” he asks her. 

 

Olivia bites down on a smile and nods shyly. 

 

“It's what my dad does on snapchat! He’ll make funny videos with his narrator voice and let's me act really goofy! My nan and aunties and uncles watch it and think it's the funniest thing ever! We're like, famous!” Bea explains wildly, swinging her and Olivia’s joined hands while she speaks. “We can even let you in it if you want! Do you want to be famous with us?” 

 

Olivia let's out a soft giggle and whispers a nearly silent, “Sure.” that Louis wouldn't even be able to hear over the sounds of the city if he wasn't actively trying to hear what she has to say. 

 

“Alright, ladies,” Louis says as he fishes his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. “Get your glamour faces ready, because you're about to be the stars of the Tomlinson Tales!”

 

The girls giggle wildly as he clears his throat dramatically and winks at them. He puts his phone in front of his face, making sure to dip his voice dramatically as he yells: “On this episode of the Tomlinson Tales, we have a special feature guest-- Miss Olivia,” Louis flips the camera and shows a blushing Olivia before turning it once again, “--as we bring to you ‘The Tomlinsons Take On the Tundra!’” 

 

He takes silly videos of him dramatically narrating about the cold and the snow as the girls giggle and act like they can hardly walk or see due to the insane amount of snow for the rest of the walk. By the time that they're in front of the building with the purple door, all three of them have tears streaming down their cheeks and are laughing wildly as Louis signs off the end of the little episode with snow stuck in his beard and Olivia and Bea acting as if they're frozen in place due to the cold. It makes him feel a bit better that Olivia has warmed up to him enough to where she can feel like she can crack jokes with him and be a bit less restrained. 

 

They all walk up the stairs together, Olivia and Bea holding his phone and rewatching the videos while giggling cutely at his dramatic voices and their acting. He has hardly had time to really think about the fact that he still has no bearings on what Olivia’s father will be like, mostly because he's consumed by how cute his daughter is with this precious, shy girl that has quite a comical streak hidden behind how quiet she is at first. Louis tells the doorman his name once they reach the top, laughing a bit at how this place seems more like a speakeasy than a bloody coffee shop, and then suddenly they're being let into probably the most posh room that Louis has ever been in in his entire life. 

 

The room is bathed in dark hues and features massive windows that showcase the snowfall outside. There is an abundance of red velvet tablecloths and curtains everywhere and Louis is pretty sure that there are actual gold place settings on each table. The teacups seem to be actual pieces of exotic china, and the smell of the coffee beans and tea is probably the most overpowering that he has ever encountered. He's pretty sure that one of the forks is easily the same cost of his entire fucking flat building. He mentally wonders how much this place will cost to eat at, and hopes that his credit card will have enough money to foot the fucking bill. He halfway wants to just turn around and sprint straight out of the door to someplace more reasonable instead. But, there are only about five people sitting at different tables, and one of those people will have to be Olivia’s dad. He's pretty sure that it wouldn't be good form to just ditch a kid before even dropping them off to their parent just because he can't afford to eat at a place. He turns towards Olivia to ask her if she sees her father, but he loses the words once she rockets off towards a man seated at a table that is sat closest to one of the largest windows. 

 

He watches as the little girl throws her arms around the man’s neck, and he swallows nervously before taking Bea’s hand and guiding her to the table. Olivia’s father is facing away from the entrance, so Louis can't really make out his face and decide if he looks like the kind of person that'll be in the MI-5 or not. When he makes his way to the table, he helps Bea into one of the high, wooden chairs first before he turns to get his first proper look at Olivia’s dad. 

 

And, well, Louis hates to act like he's a cliche character in a romance novel or whatever, but he can't deny the fact that the moment he locks eyes with Olivia’s father, his heart gets stuck in his throat. 

 

Not only does the man have perfectly pale skin that contrasts with the devastatingly beautiful cherry red of his lips but he also has these and, or does he have these  _ dazzling  _ emerald eyes that put the richest of forests to shame.And, also, Louis’ heart might completely freeze in his chest solely because of the warm dimple etched into his cheek or because he have the softest brown hair that Louis has ever seen. 

 

That might all be a bit dramatic, but it's warranted because not only is he face to face with literally the most beautiful person that Louis will probably ever encounter, but also, Olivia’s father is Harry  _ fucking  _ Styles. 

 

Seriously, he's not kidding. As impossible as it is to believe, the person sat in front of him smiling and asking what kind of tea Louis prefers is  _ Harry Styles.  _ The same Harry Styles that Lottie has kissed the poster of dai when she was younger; the same Harry Styles that has been an actor since he was nothing but a small pudgy boy getting featured on made for telly movies; the same Harry Styles that has risen above all odds to get big roles in movies like  _ Dunkirk.  _

 

Most importantly, this is the same Harry Styles that Louis worshipped in Uni for being unashamed of his sexuality. 

 

This man is more successful than Louis could ever wish to be, and of all of the things he imagined Olivia's father to be, he couldn’t have fathomed it would be Harry Styles. Especially because literally  _ nobody  _ has mentioned anything about  _ People’s Sexiest Man Alive  _ having a child of his own.  

 

“You know, when I pegged you for a druglord, I wasn't exactly challenging you to make me believe that you actually  _ are  _ one. What is this place?” Louis says after he swallows over the mild panic that's building up in his throat over the fact that he's literally sitting in front of the cause of his teenage sexuality crisis. 

 

The air is a bit tense for a second. Even Bea doesn't try to break in with some joke like how she usually does when it's too quiet for her liking. But the awkwardness is easily shattered when Harry Styles tilts his head backwards and lets out an embarrassing, seal-bark of a laugh that Louis can't help but smile at him for. 

 

“Well, that's a different greeting than what I'm used to,” Harry says after he's finished laughing, bringing up a ring-clad finger to wipe under his mouth at a crumb. “I was expecting something more along the lines of ‘Wow’ or ‘Can you sign this for my sister? I promise it's not for me, but also can you make it out to my name just for laughs?’” 

 

“Well,” Louis sits up straighter and tries to force any of his internal screaming out of his head. “You seem to be a bit bloody full of yourself, don't you? I should've expected as much from a,” he pauses and sniffs the air dramatically, trying not to laugh at how Harry seems to look a bit panicked, “coffee drinker.” 

 

Harry exhales and smiles so hard that Louis fears his dimple is going to split his cheek in half. 

 

“Daddy, you're being rude,” Bea interrupts their small bubble of banter loudly, “you haven't even introduced me yet!” 

 

“Oh, you're right,” Louis nods. “Harry, this is my daughter, Bea. Bea, this is Olivia’s dad, Harry. You know, the one you forced me to sign up to host this Christmas party with.” 

 

Bea, the little shite she is, nods primly and reaches out her hand for Harry to shake, but when he reaches out to grasp her hand, she pulls her arm back out of his reach and giggles mischievously, looking at Olivia and laughing a bit harder when the other girl starts to laugh, too. 

 

“ _ Bea _ ,” Louis admonishes pointedly, staring her down until she huffs and shakes his hand properly. 

 

Harry smiles at her charmingly, and asks both her and Olivia if they wouldn't mind to going to the case and pick outing some pastries for all of them to share at the table. Louis raises his eyebrow at Harry and reaches for his wallet, grabbing about twenty quid and hoping that it can afford whatever she wants to buy. Bea takes the money, jumping out of her chair and walking over to Olivia and outstretching her hand so that she can lead her over to the case together. They both watch the girls fondly for a second, before Louis clears his throats and looks back at Harry. 

 

“So,” Louis smiles at Harry. “I guess we should get down to business, then?” 

 

Harry’s eyebrows furrow for a moment in confusion before he realizes what Louis means, “Oh, yeah! Christmas party.” 

 

“Christmas party,” Louis echoes, smiling at Harry awkwardly for a second before gazing out of the window for a bit. Down below, the people that are making their daily commute home in the snow almost look like the people from the tiny Christmas villages that grans like to set out for decorations. He looks back at Harry, who is already looking at him and seems a bit shocked for some reason as his cheeks flush quickly. “You wouldn't know how to plan one, would you?” 

 

Harry smiles toothily at him and shakes his head, “To be honest, I have no idea. I never get to go to any of the parties or the PTA meetings, so I don't even know what to expect.” 

 

Louis groans and leans back in his seat, “ _ Fuck _ , I was kind of hoping you'd be a famous party planner and would know how to run all of this shite and I would just do your bidding for the next month or so.” 

 

Harry smiles and runs a hand through his short hair that is valiantly trying to curl even though it's not at the length for it yet. Louis tries not to be endeared but he can't find it in himself to fight off his obvious feelings of attraction to this Adonis of a man. 

 

“Well, I used to be a baker, if that helps?” 

 

“That'll help loads,” Bea forces her way into the conversation easily as she sits down at the table, smiling Olivia in tow. “Dad can't cook at  _ all. _ ” 

 

Louis rolls his eyes and pulls on Bea’s scarf teasingly, “Thanks for the vouch of confidence, love.”

 

“It's true,” Bea directs at Harry while she grabs a napkin and spreads it over her lap. She seems to have ordered the most dastardly and chocolatey pastry that shoppe has to offer-- Louis isn't surprised. “One time he tried to bake me a cake for my birthday and Uncle Zayn said it tasted like cement.”

 

“ _ Really _ ?” Harry asks, eyes wide and a smile threatening to pull at his lips again. “Well, if that's the truth, then maybe it'll be best if I take care of the food.” 

 

Bea nods and takes a calculated bite of her pastry, chocolate immediately getting all over her chin. Louis snorts and uses his own napkin to wipe at her face after she's done eating. On the other side of the table, Olivia is getting a notebook out of her backpack while Harry stares at him with thinly veiled amusement. It's all a bit too easy, if Louis is completely honest. Especially because he's sat in front of a sodding  _ movie star _ while his daughter is practically smashing her face into the most expensive chocolate eclair to exist and he's not even panicking in the slightest. 

 

“Well,” Olivia clears her throat daintily. She's holding a pen with a rose attached to the top and has her plate of food pushed away from her to make room for her notebook. “Class parties typically have a caterer. Don't have to worry about cooking.” 

 

Shit, Louis forgot about that. Sometimes he lets his mind forget exactly how classy the school is. At one of the birthday parties that Bea attended for a classmate last year, the mum gave out Apple watches as party favors. He and Harry have to deal with a Christmas gathering that is supposed to rival most modern weddings, and it seems that neither of them have any clue about what they're doing. 

 

“Ooo! Olivia's right. For our Halloween party, they had that lad with the silly hat feed us!” Bea agrees around a mouthful of chocolate. Louis tries to wipe at her messy chin again to no avail. “Dad, remember? We got to eat fancy food while those old guys played music on a stage at that hotel. It was so cool.”

 

“You know,” Harry leans forward, eyes twinkling as he bops Bea adorably on the nose. “The lad with a silly hat was the chef. Olivia wants to be one, one day.”

 

“I  _ wanted  _ to be a chef,” Olivia corrects, not looking up from where's scribbling in her notebook. “But now i want to be a CEO of my own company.”

 

Harry nods and looks at Louis, a massive smile still practically splitting his face. Louis smiles back, and it all feels like it'd be super normal if it wasn't for the fact that he is sat across from a fucking movie star in a discreet tea shoppe with gold dripping from every crevice of the room. But, the hideous amount of luxury and unrealness is kind of lost on Louis as they trade private smiles that seem to be a common means of silent communication between parents whenever a child says or does something heartwarming. 

 

“I want to be a lawyer,” Bea says, in the same confident way that she has told a countless number of people before. Ever since she was able to understand what a lawyer was, Bea has been adamant that she will one day become the ‘best lawyer ever.’ She claims that she wants to be just like Elle Woods but with less pink, and Louis believes that Bea could really achieve her dreams if she sets her mind to it. “I can help you know the laws for your company, Olivia!” 

 

Olivia’s cheeks flush slightly as she smiles at Bea, “That'd be lovely.”

 

Louis looks over to Harry who is sipping from a fancy teacup as his eyes basically  _ shimmer  _ with adoration for his daughter. He sits the cup down and shoots another private smile to Louis, and he looks fucking beautiful. He has whipped cream smattered across his poor excuse of a mustache and dimples forming craters in his cheeks and Louis can nearly cry from how breathtaking this boy is. He's seriously the most gorgeous person Louis’ ever seen, and he is looking at Louis like they've been friends for years. It's… weird. 

 

The entire situation is weird. 

 

Louis looks away and runs his hand over the cloth napkin, mentally thanking creation for the fact that he's tan enough that the flush on his cheeks is probably not visible. Bea and Olivia are still talking rapidly about things from their class and Harry is probably doing something lovely like smiling or wooing someone else with his general existence. He doesn't know if there is a certain protocol on how to act in front of a movie star, but Bea seems to be perfectly at ease with the situation acting like Harry is nothing more than just a regular person. Which, he is, Harry is obviously human and should be treated as such, but it's just a bit difficult because he's just so  _ pretty  _ that Louis is starting to believe he might be an alien. 

 

“You know, I always wanted to have a Christmas party when I was younger,” Harry says, pulling Louis from his train of thought. “I really like Christmas cookies, and I was always looking for an excuse to have some more. And Christmas parties are basically required to have special cookies.”

 

“I liked Christmas parties because they always have a Santa. When I was little, nothing was cooler than having Saint Nicholas personally hand me a present. But I can agree with you about the cookies,I have always been a fan of sugar cookies.”

 

“Maybe we can all bake cookies together?” Bea interrupts, voice dripping with sweetness. “If Harry really is a good baker, then we should test him.”

 

Louis laughs and pokes her arm teasingly, “ _ You  _ little cheeky girl, you are just trying to find a way to eat more cookies. Do you not like the ones Uncle Zayn brings you every week?”

 

Bea snarls and shakes her head, “Dad, you know they are disgusting!” She turns to Harry and faux-whispers: “Last week, Uncle Zayn and Niall gave us gingerbread cookies and they were  _ black _ .”

 

Harry mouth gapes open in a dramatic picture of shock as Olivia giggles with delight, and Louis’ heart just feels  _ warm  _ for some inexplicable reason. Maybe it’s because this is the first time he has been around a different person that is as just as endeared by Bea as he is in a long time, or perhaps it is because he feels like he is building a friendship with another young parent that will be able to understand him in ways that his family and Niall and Zayn don’t. He just knows that for some dumb reason, he feels like this little meeting is the start of something and he is excited for what it can lead to. 

 

“Black gingerbread cookies? That’s terrifying. Maybe your Dad and I can arrange a day to bake cookies and plan more for the party. How does that sound?” Harry asks, looking over to Louis at the last second like he is assuring that Louis isn’t repulsed by the idea.

  
“That’ll be lovely,” Louis affirms.

 

“Great!” Olivia says cheerily while tearing out a piece of paper from her notebook. “Dad, we have to meet with Auntie Gem in fifteen minutes, so we need to leave. I wrote down a list of what you and Mr. Louis will need to do for the party! You guys can plan while we bake cookies. Also, Dad, I need to use the restroom.”

 

Harry lets out a quick laugh, taking a quick sip from his water before standing. Olivia tears the paper in half and hands one half to Harry and lays the other in front of Louis. Bea is scraping her fork over her plate, assuring that she does not leave a single trace of chocolate behind. Louis looks at the paper, which has an honest to God list of things to do for the party in a surprisingly neat script for an elementary schooler. He folds the paper and tucks it into the pocket of his jacket, clearing his throat as he looks up at Harry, and is surprised to find that he is already looking at Louis. His poster-worthy emerald eyes are practically twinkling as he wraps a knit scarf around his neck haphazardly and shoots Louis a small smile. 

 

“So we will all get to be together again this week?” Bea asks hopefully. 

 

“I’m not sure if it will be this week, but it will happen soon enough. Now, tell Harry it was nice to meet him.” Louis tells her, guiding her out of the wing-backed chair. “But lets wipe the chocolate off of your hands first, yeah?”

 

Bea giggles and wipes her hand on Louis’ coat, and this is probably one of the moments that his mum talks about it where he gets what he deserves for being such a little shite as a child. He rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out her in the way that always makes her giggle, and he nearly forgets that Harry and Olivia are still there until Olivia clears her throat daintily. 

 

“Well, we have to be off now.” Olivia declares, slipping on her jacket with Harry’s help. “I cannot wait to bake cookies with you two. Maybe we can record another Tomlinson Tale while we do it!”

 

Louis smiles, “I’m sure the audience will love for you to be a returning star.”

 

Harry holds out a hand for Louis to shake, which he does. Harry is surprisingly warm, which is pleasant. He shoves his hands back in his pocket as Harry leans down to shake Bea’s hand before leaving with Olivia clutching his hand. They make a rather adorable duo, especially with the way that they are now sporting matching beanies over their wild curls. 

 

“They’re both weird,” Bea declares as Louis helps her into her coat. “I like it.”

 

Louis laughs at her blunt comment, chest warm with fondness for his daughter, but he also finds himself agreeing with her. They are different, he decides, but there's something special about the duo, as well. 

 

//

 

The four of them don’t meet up to bake until the next week. 

 

Harry was caught up in promoting his newest movie and Louis has been busy editing the final transcripts for some trashy tell-all book that a reality star has decided to publish through his company and Olivia had contracted a nasty case of the flu which caused for all plans to be held off as the group dealt with their own busy lives. But, immense progress for the party planning has been made with the help of Olivia’s list that she had given them. Even though both Harry and himself have been caught up with work, they have found the time to text one another at an embarrassing rate. It turns out that once Harry has came out of his shell, he is nothing but a mess of festive emojis and long-winded text messages. Louis kind of loves it. 

 

They all decided to meet at Harry’s house, mostly because it has more counter space and the oven has probably been used for more than just the occasional baking of frozen pizza, on a Tuesday after both of the girls have gotten out of school. As soon as Louis had entered Harry’s house, he was confronted by a scary amount of candles and a massive portrait of Olivia hanging in the entrance hall. He had helped Bea out of her puffy winter coat and immediately turned to Harry, pointed at the photo of a slightly younger Olivia with missing teeth and gaudy flowers in her hair and said: ‘She's going to hate you for that one day. I love it.’ and Harry simply replied by laughing and taking Louis by the wrist to guide him into his fucking  _ mansion.  _

 

And now the four of them are in Harry’s kitchen, Bea is covered and flour and Olivia is vainly trying to clean up after herself as Harry slides a batch of sugar cookies into the oven and Louis searches for the perfect Christmas radio station to play through Harry’s fancy in-home stereo system. 

 

Louis has just finished clicking on the Top Christmas Hits station when Olivia pipes up from where she is flinging a dirty cloth over her small shoulder. 

 

“So you've found a caterer?” she asks. 

 

“Yes,” Harry replies. “It's the same one that did Auntie Gem’s birthday party last year. He was nice, yeah?” 

 

Louis turns to watch the exchange, smiling as he watches Olivia walk over to her massive backpack and pull out the infamous notebook and pen. 

 

“Yeah, he was good. And theme, have you chosen one?”

 

“What's a theme?” Bea asks Olivia as she sticks her finger into a bowl of dough and eats it. Louis would berate her, but he knows that she caught him doing the same a few minutes ago. “Is it like… the day it's on or something?” 

 

Olivia shakes her head, hair swaying in a massive wave of brown curls as she moves. “No, it's like the idea that the party tries to look like.”

 

“Oh,” Bea says, shrugging as she walks over to peer over Olivia’s shoulder. “I knew that.”

 

“I think we've decided on it being like Santa’s workshop. We just want it to be fun for you guys.” Harry answers honestly. “It'll be a lot better than something dumb like White Christmas, right?”

 

“ _ Hey _ , don't make fun of my idea,” Louis balks. walking past Harry and taking a vengeful bite from a cooking gingerbread cookie before muttering a quiet  _ arsehole _ under his breath. 

 

Harry snorts, returning Louis’ sentiment with a hidden middle finger pointed in Louis’ direction when he turns his back so that the girls can't see. 

 

“Liv, don't worry about the party. Louis and I will take care of it. How about you try and have Bea help you finish decorating the Christmas tree in your room instead? Lou and I will finish up down here.”

 

“You have a tree in your  _ bedroom _ ?” Bea asks, voice dripping with awe. “That's so cool! You have to show me.” 

 

And with that, Bea is grabbing Olivia’s hand and dragging her away from the table and out of the kitchen. Louis and Harry stand there awkwardly for a moment, staring at one another with forced smiles until Bea’s voice loudly thunders throughout the house as she announces: “I have no idea where I'm going, maybe you should lead” and then the two break down into laughter. 

 

Louis smiles at Harry, who is opening his mouth to say something but is cut off by the timer beeping. Harry turned away, striding over to the stove and getting the cookies out to put on a cooling rack while Mariah Carey croons about what she wants for Christmas. Louis thumbs through his phone, thumbing out a quick reply to Niall, who is currently sending him nearly a thousand Pepe the Frog memes because Zayn is at work and he is bored. 

 

_ psa: pepe the frog is outdated. you need to modernize your meme stash, nialler.  _

 

He sets down his phone as soon as the oven stops beeping, and when he turns around he is immediately stuck in place by Harry’s kind-of-creepy-but-still-cute stare. Louis raises an eyebrow at him, which seems to make Harry snap out of the weird trance he was in. 

 

“So, are you going to ask?” Harry asks him ominously, turning away quickly but not quite fast enough for Louis to not be able to see the pink flushing his pale cheeks. 

 

“What do you want me to ask?” Louis shoots back, leaning against the counter. 

 

“The obvious question, of course.”

 

“Oh, you mean you want me to ask how you keep your hair so voluminous?” Louis teases, Harry laughs. It makes his heart swell for some reason. “That's pretty egocentric of you. Have you ever thought that maybe I don't  _ want  _ to know your beauty tips and secrets?”

 

“You're quite hilarious,” Harry says, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. “You know that's not what I meant. I was asking if you were going to ask for me to tell you why I'm keeping my awesome daughter a secret from the world.”

 

“Eh,” Louis shrugs, watching as Harry’s back muscles move beneath the thin material of his shirt. The lad has a nice back. “I didn't come here for an interview. And if you wanted to tell me, then you would just tell me.”

 

“So you're not curious?”

 

“Well, of course I'm curious, who wouldn't be? But I also know that your life is different than mine and I don't have the right to force you to answer my questions.” Louis grabs one of the icing bags or whatever it's called and puts a bit on his finger before eating it. “If I were to ask you questions, I feel like it would only be fair if you asked me some questions, too. In the spirit of equality.”

 

“The spirit of equality,” Harry echoes, Louis can hear him walking closer to where Louis is standing. “That's a pretty noble statement.”

“Indeed it is,” Louis agrees as he starts to ice some snowman-shaped sugar cookies. “So, do you want to grill each other with questions?”

 

Harry laughs, Louis accidentally gets too much icing on the cookie, it's all bit too easy, if he's honest. Everything with Harry is weirdly easy.

 

“Sure, so should I answer the burning question first?” Harry asks, grabbing his own icing bag and standing next to Louis as he grabs a cookie for himself. Louis nods. “Alright, I’ll answer it. But just remember that you signed an NDA and can't repeat any of this.”

“My lips are sealed.” Louis finishes icing his cookie and grabs a few sprinkles, giving his snowman some posh looking buttons. “So, tell me Harold, why are you so private?”

 

Harry grabs a sugar cookie shaped like a snowflake and begins to make crafty designs on the delicate cookie, “I've been in the movie industry since I was four. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean I was what people see as  _ famous _ since I was four, but I did have a different childhood than most other kids.” 

 

“I remember seeing you in that movie with Adam Sandler, go on.” Louis says once Harry pauses. 

 

Harry laughs, Louis gives his snowman a crooked pair of eyes. 

 

“Basically, what I'm saying is that I never got a normal childhood. And once I grew up and became more in the public eye, I realized that my future children wouldn't have any chance at being normal either. The thought terrified me. I have known since I was young that I wanted to be a father, and a good one at that, but I also love acting. I knew that it would be hard for me to have a child, especially since I'm a gay man that's only been out of the closet for less than ten years, but I also knew that I wanted to make it work. After my rep suggested that I can use a surrogate to have a child and then just shield them from the public eye, I finally decided to do it. It was hard and it's stressful because I live in fear of people finding out and harassing Olivia, but I don't regret my choice.”

 

Louis nods, “I can't say I understand, because, even though I'd like to think so, I'm not nearly as well-known or liked as you, but I do respect your decision. People can be mean, and it's scary to think of having to subject your child to how judgements the world is. But, if you're so private, why did you agree to meet with Bea and I?”

 

“Well, the Nondisclosure Agreement  _ was  _ the deciding factor of whether I agreed to meet you or not,” Harry says with a small laugh. “But I think the main reason why I even entertained letting you know who I am was because I knew that not only would Olivia panic if she felt like she failed to do something for her teacher, but she also really likes Bea. Olivia isn’t very good at making friends with kids her age because she can be so shy and kids can be so mean, but Bea has helped her loosen up. I figured that a kid as great as Bea had to have great parents, and I was right.”

 

It’s quiet for a little bit. Harry is still deftly decorating the sugar cookies and Frank Sinatra is still crooning Christmas songs but Louis has stopped adding sprinkles to his trainwreck of a cookie. He can feel how warm his face is from the mixture of the heat exuding from the oven and also from the weird sort of pride that’s building in his chest. He  _ knows  _ that Bea is a great kid. She is smart and brave and so, so passionate. He loves her with his whole heart and he can’t believe that he gets to spend every single day with this awesome little person. But, it’s different when someone else recognizes how epic his daughter is. He’s so proud of her, and it means a lot that Harry can see how special Bea is without Louis having to tell him.

 

“So it’s my turn to ask you a question,” Harry murmurs, he sounds closer to Louis than he was before. He turns to the side and realizes that Harry is now reaching past him to put warm cookies on a cooling rack. “Right?”

 

“Oh,” Louis clears his throat. “Yeah, go on. I mean, you probably have a lot that you want to ask. My life is a bit more amazing than your, boring A-list celebrity one.”

 

Harry laughs, “You’re right. I’ve heard that the life of a top-notch publisher can be a real riot.”

 

“Wait, how do you know that?”

 

“Oh, didn’t you know? All celebrities have psychic powers.” Harry reaches past Louis again and takes a tube of sprinkles. He smells like a weird mixture of sweets and really, really expensive cologne. Louis takes a bite of the snowflake cookie Harry just iced and lets out a small laugh at Harry’s appalled face. “I worked very hard on that cookie, you heathen. Anyways, I had my people conduct a background check on you. I wasn’t going to let you in my house without assuring you weren’t a felon or something.”

 

“Yeah, that was probably a good move for you. I guess I should tell you that I vigorously googled you after we met. I found out a lot of interesting things.”

 

“Really?” Harry asks while throwing sprinkles over a cookie. “What’d you find?”

 

“That we’re both alike in the fact that we are gay and single,” Harry makes a weirdly pleased sound at that. Louis isn’t sure why but he also doesn’t question it. “I also found your sister’s Twitter account, and I do have to say that she is the better Styles.”

 

“ _ Dammit _ , not you, too. I think she has more fans than me at this point.”

 

“Oh, poor movie star. It’s a tragic tale, being outshined by your sister. You’re the Haylie Duff to her Hillary.”

 

“You think you’re  _ so  _ funny, don’t you?”

 

Louis shrugs, “I’ve been told on multiple occasions that I should be a comic, yes. Why, do you need a few tips? I did notice that your puns on Twitter were quite weak -- ”

 

Louis’ teasing is cut short by Harry getting into his space and fucking  _ booping  _ his nose with a massive glob of icing on his finger. He stares at Harry for a moment with his eyes wide in shock, while Harry just laughs in his face, dimples on full display and emerald eyes crinkling with the force of his smile. Louis doesn’t know if he should cuss him out or laugh with him, so he decides to do what he does best and retaliate. He takes an entire tube of icing and wraps both of his hands around the flimsy plastic before turning towards Harry and squirting the icing directly onto Harry’s shocked face. Harry stares at him for a moment, laugh completely gone and piece of icing dripping off of his nose and Louis can make  _ a million  _ sexual jokes about this. 

 

“Did you really just do that?” Harry asks, voice thick with laughter.

 

“I thought you said you wanted a pearl necklace for Christmas?”

 

“Oh my god, you’re disgusting,” Harry barks out one of his trademark seal laughs and dips his hand in the flour before throwing it at Louis.

 

Louis  _ fucking  _ giggles like a right idiot, “I might be disgusting but you still want to be my friend.”

 

Louis grabs one of his sprinkle-infested cookies and smashes it against Harry’s chest, laughing at his shocked expression until Harry dumps an entire canister sprinkles over Louis’ head. They continue like that for a while, throwing every sweet onto one another while howling with laughter, and it all just feels  _ nice.  _ Louis hardly has the time to let loose and act like a kid, and by the looks of it, Harry seems to hardly feel this way either. He feels young again, and it’s electric.

 

They stop demolishing all of the sweets nearly half an hour later when the girls come back into the kitchen and Bea shrieks out a horrified: “What are you guys  _ doing? _ ”

 

“Dad, you ruined the cookies!” Olivia chimes in.

 

Harry and Louis pause, with cookie dough suspended in the air and a solid layer of sweets covering their entire bodies while the girls just stare at them with disappointment prevalent in their eyes. 

 

“Harry started it!” Louis yells, and then laughs when Harry lets out an affronted gasp.

 

“You two are  _ children _ ,” Bea admonishes, even though she’s smiling and putting her recently lost tooth on display. “The only way we can let this go is if you order pizza. With extra cheese!”

 

“And pineapples,” Olivia adds.

 

“Two pizzas! One with pineapples that I won’t be eating because I hate fruit!”

 

Louis laughs wipes flour out of his eyes, “Aye, captain. We will order pizza and wash up. Maybe  _ you  _ should go get your backpack and do your homework with Olivia.”

 

Bea sighs, eyes crinkling adorably. “Do we have to do homework tonight?”

“Yes, we do,” Olivia answers for Louis primly. “You won’t become a lawyer if you don’t do your work! Let’s go get your backpack and then we can work in Dad’s study. It has spinny chairs!”

 

“Spinny chairs?” Bea asks, voice lilting with excitement. Olivia nods, curls moving dramatically over her shoulders as she does so. Bea claps her hands together and laces her small fingers around Olivia’s wrist. “Why didn’t you tell me about them earlier? To the study!”

 

The girls thunder out of the kitchen once again, leaving Louis and Harry alone with what looks like the wreckage of a cookie-infested tornado. Louis’ phone is now playing some horrendously auto-tuned version of Jingle Bells and Harry is fucking  _ staring  _ at Louis with the dopiest smile on his lips and an honest-to-God sparkle in his eyes. Louis can’t help but to smile back at him, because he’s  _ Harry  _ and it’s probably illegal to not be happy when Harry Styles is publicly showcasing his smile that is practically the most joyous thing to ever exist. Harry hands him a cloth and Louis wipes his sugar-ladened hands on it with a small laugh. They haven’t said a single word since the girls left minutes ago, but the energy between them isn’t really quiet. There’s still the music, and their small bursts of laughter as they look around the messy kitchen, but there’s also this thrumming energy beneath it all that might just be Louis’ embarrassingly fast heartbeat but really he feels like it’s the promise that this thing with Harry has the potential to manifest into something more.

 

“You know,” Harry says as he slaps down a wet cloth and begins to wipe off the counter. “I never got around to asking you a question.”

 

“I think the distraction was your fault.”

 

Harry laughs and shakes his head. He still has a streak of flour across his forehead from when Louis reenacted the Lion King scene with him. “Shut up. Anyways, are you ready for my question?”

 

Louis throws a handful of ruined cookies in the trash bin and turns to look at Harry (who is still fucking smiling) then nods.

 

“Why did you choose to have Bea go to the prep school? Olivia has talked about how she’s on scholarship, and I know that it’s a nice school, but like. There are plenty of other schools in London, why this stupidly expensive one?”

 

“Well, one of the mums from this little playdate group she was in a few years ago was always talking it up. She’d talk about how the kids that go there for all twelve years always end up getting jobs and having successful lives. And she also told Bea about how some of the best lawyers in the country went to that school. Bea never really explicitly said that she wanted to go there, but I could just see it. She has big dreams and I knew she would kill to go to the school. So, a year later when my boss was trying to convince me to stay in London at the company I work at rather than move back home, I told him that if he got her in then I would stay. It took a massive blow off of my pay, but it got her into the school. She’s happy here, and that's all I can ask for, even if the rich mums can be a little nauseating at times.”

 

“So that means you’re pretty good at your job then,” Harry murmurs.

 

Louis laughs and throws the dirty cloth in his hands at Harry’s back, further demolishing his formerly-pristine white shirt. “I’m alright at it, I suppose.”

 

Harry walks closer to him, face still dirty with sugar and a floral printed cloth thrown over his shoulder, “Look at you -- you’re blushing, how adorable. You know… You are quite cute, Louis.”

 

Louis smacks Harry lightly on the chest and turns away, opting to try to get the flour off of his own shirt instead of letting him see his embarrassing blush, “Isn’t my turn to ask a question, now?”

 

“Smooth diversion tactic.”

 

“I know, you didn’t even realize that I changed the subject from your blatant flirting, did you? Anyways, my question is… uhm..” Louis clears his throat and tries to think of the first thing that he can ask to break the tension in the room. “What’s your favorite Christmas carol?”

 

Harry laughs, so Louis laughs too. He’s starting to think that the two of them might be laughing  _ too  _ often, but he can’t help it. Harry just makes him feel giddy. 

 

“You’ve probably never heard of it,” Harry warns. 

 

“Try me.”

 

“I’m not really a religious person, but there’s this carol that's called Beautiful Star of Bethlehem? See, I told you you’ve never heard of it, I can see it on your face. Anyways, it’s this catchy song my gran would sing while she helped me build gingerbread houses. That’s my favorite.”

 

“That was a really pure answer,” Louis says, turning around in just enough time to catch Harry blushing as he sweeps some crumbs into a dustpan. “Meanwhile my favorite Christmas carol is Jingle Bells because I like the parodies.”

 

Harry lets out his one crack of laughter at that, before yelling out a lousy rendition of Jingle Bells, which leads for Louis to smack him with a cloth yet again. Later on, Louis calls the pizza place and Harry changes and also gets Louis a different set of clothes now that the ones he came here in are caked with cookie dough. They don’t start actually talking about planning the Christmas party until the pizza is delivered and the girls are finished with homework. They manage to smooth out most of the finishing details over pizza, much to Olivia’s satisfaction, and Bea tries one of the pineapple pizzas and promptly spits it out back onto her plate. It’s a nice night, and Louis wouldn’t mind having more nights like this.

 

“Pa,” Bea says later on, voice heavy from sleep and her third piece of pizza laying half-eaten on her plate. “I think I’m getting tired.”

 

Louis purses his lips and runs his hand over her thin hair, “It is getting close to time for bed. Let me call for a taxi and then we’ll get you home, yeah?”

 

Bea nods, “That’s a good plan. I wanted to play more with Olivia’s puzzles though.”

 

“Maybe you can come over another day and play,” Olivia says, voice brimming with hope. “Can she, Dad?”

 

“Lou and Bea are welcome here anytime,” Harry says with a smile, looking more at Louis than at Olivia as he says it. “I can just drive you home myself, you know? That way you can get home faster?”

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I just texted the driver, so. Anyways, Olivia probably is tired, too. Thank you, though.”

 

“Oh, alright. And it was no problem, really. I enjoyed tonight.” Harry smiles and stands up, Louis quickly follows suit. “I’m going to put Olivia to bed, feel free to sit here while you wait for your driver, though. I’ll be back down soon.”

 

Harry leaves with Olivia, the pair going into the hall hand in hand. Louis piles his and Bea’s plates together and washes them quickly before coming back to the dining room to see his daughter falling asleep at the table. He picks her up with only a little bit of a struggle before going to Harry’s entry hall to look out the window for the taxi. He almost doesn’t hear Harry come back down over the sound of Bea’s light snores escaping her mouth. 

 

“So, we basically got the damn party figured out,” Harry says.

 

Louis lets out a small laugh, “Yeah, basically. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”

 

“Thank God for caterers,” Harry agrees with a small giggle.

 

“You’re right, we’d be fucked if we didn’t hire the planners.” Louis smiles and looks back out the window just as a taxi pulls in. “The driver is here. Thanks for having us again.”

 

“I liked having you here. You’re different than other people.”

 

Louis shifts Bea in his arms and looks at Harry. His hair is falling in his forehead messily and there are small bags forming underneath his eyes from exhaustion. He’s wearing a Rolling Stones shirt that has to be a thousand years old and he doesn’t have any fucking socks on even though it’s winter in fucking  _ England _ . He has a tattoo on his toe and a crooked smile on his lips and he is just the embodiment of everything that Louis never knew he needed in his life. 

 

A car honks outside, tearing Louis from his train of thought.

 

“I should go, now,” Louis murmurs, shooting Harry a small smile and opening the door before pausing. “Oh, and Harry? I think that you’re kinda cute, too.”

 

//

 

The party comes a lot sooner than Louis expected, and it actually looks a lot better than what Louis first expected when Bea told him that he had to host the fucking thing. They rented out a dance hall at a hotel that’s near the school and Louis even managed to rent a cheap but not too shady Santa to set up in the corner of the room. There are kids running around the fancily set-up tables and Christmas songs playing on loop that doesn’t do much to mask the polite conversation that is being traded between parents. A few of the mums have stopped by to tell Louis that he has done a stellar job with the party and Ms. Ali has even given him a few warm smiles of gratitude whenever they have crossed paths. It’s a pretty good party, but it’s missing something. 

 

“So, the druglord didn’t come?” Zayn asks from where he’s nursing a champagne flute filled with eggnog beside Niall. “That’s a shame.”

 

“He’s not a druglord,” Louis says patiently.

 

“He’s a spy!” Niall interrupts cheerily.

 

Louis snorts, “You two are the biggest idiots that I know.”

 

“Yeah, but you  _ love  _ us,” Zayn concludes with the same dopey smile that he’s been sporting ever since he finally crafted a plan for how he’s going to propose to Niall. (He decided that a trip to the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve was the only way he could do it, because who wouldn’t want to agree to be with someone forever as fireworks burst around them.) “We’re your favorite people ever. Aside from Bea, of course.”

 

“Bea is everyone’s favorite,” Niall confirms.

 

“Speaking of Bea, where did she head off to? I thought she would want to have a slice of cake.”

 

Louis turns in his chair to look over the room and nearly doesn’t spot his daughter until he sees her and Olivia huddled in the corner. Bea’s arms are thrown around Olivia’s shoulders in a placating manner and from here it almost looks like the curly-haired girl is crying. Louis stands from his chair and feels in his pocket for his phone. There still isn’t a text from Harry (he hasn’t replied in the past week ever since they put the last detail of the party to rest. Louis tries to not feel hurt about it.) He walks over to the girls, a frown tugging on his lips when he realizes that Olivia really is crying and Bea looks near-tears as well.

 

“What’s wrong, loves?” Louis asks in a soft voice as he kneels beside them.

 

“Olivia misses her dad,” Bea says as she looks up at Louis, eyes swimming with sadness.

 

“Oh, love.” Louis hums and rubs his hand over Olivia’s back. “I’m sorry. Bea, how about you go to Uncles Zayn and Niall and ask if they’ll help you find her favorite sweet, yeah? I’m going to have a nice chat with Olivia.”

 

Bea nods, mouth turned down with worry, but still runs off nonetheless.

 

“You don’t have to stay,” Olivia says, voice cracking with emotion. “It’ll be fine.”

 

“Something’s obviously not right, love. What happened?”

 

“It’s just,” Olivia sighs and looks up at Louis, emerald eyes rimmed red from tears. “Why do adults think that kids can never hear them? Like, they talk about me when I’m right there and say that my dad must not love me because he’s not here and it hurts my feelings because I want him here so bad, but it’s worse that the adults talk about me like I can’t hear them. And the more they say he hates me, the more I think they’re right.”

 

A few tears roll down her cheeks, and Louis can practically hear the sound of his own heart breaking. Sure, he might be a bit mad at Harry for ignoring him lately, but he knows that it would hurt so badly if Bea ever felt that way about him.

 

“Listen, Olivia, your dad  _ loves  _ you. He would do absolutely anything for you. In fact, the only reason why he isn’t here is because he loves you so much. He just wants to protect you and he is doing what is best for you. I know it must suck to not have your dad here with you, but he’s doing this for you. He cares for you, Olivia, I promise. Anyways, I would know way more than those other parents, because I’m the only adult here who knows who he is.”

 

Olivia looks up at him, her eyes glassy and mouth slightly parted and for a second he’s terrified of what will happen next, but then she’s suddenly throwing her arms around his neck in a warm embrace. He returns the hug graciously, running his fingers over her hair until Bea comes over with a bowl full of ice cream and a concerned look on her face. Olivia accepts the frozen treat graciously and the two girls go to a table full of their fellow students and the party continues on without a hitch. Louis should feel satisfied, but the lack of messages in his phone still makes him feel uneasy. He’s not sure what to think of that.

 

//

 

“Hey, Mr. Tomlinson!” Olivia shouts merrily from where she’s nestled in the corner of the nearly-empty library. She has a massive novel open on her lap and her hair pushed back in a silky headscarf. She looks alarmingly like Harry. “Bea has been sleeping for the last half hour. Thank you for agreeing to let her come here with me.”

 

“Well, I’d be a bad parent if I didn’t agree to letting my daughter spend extra time in the city library, wouldn’t I?” Louis laughs and sits down on the beanbag chair that’s across from Olivia. “And you promise your dad was fine with this?”

 

Bea is sleeping soundly on a beanbag chair that is pulled directly against Olivia’s. When Bea asked if she could carpool to the library with Olivia today, he nearly laughed in her face, but then he realized that she was probably just looking for a way to spend extra time with her best friend. They haven’t been to one another’s houses since the last time because Harry is still ignoring his texts, but Louis is glad that the girls’ friendship hasn’t suffered because of it. 

 

“Is my dad still not speaking to you?” Olivia asks. 

 

Louis raises his eyes in slight bewilderment, “How did you know?”

 

“I heard him talking to Aunt Gemma last night.” Olivia shrugs. “He was saying that he didn’t want to annoy you now that the party is over.”

 

“He said that?”

 

“Yeah, I mean. My dad obviously likes you. He’s just scared.”

 

“Your dad is scared…” Louis repeats.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Of me?” 

 

Olivia nods. “It’s probably because you have Bea’s pretty eyes. I was scared to talk to her at first because of them.”

 

“I… You’ve got to be kidding me.” Louis laughs. “Your dad is scared of  _ me _ ? I’m a nobody. I’m just an idiot with a literature degree and a boring desk job, your dad is a movie star.”

 

“That’s not true. He told Aunt Gemma that you’re really bright and lovely, like the beautiful star that he likes to sing about.” Olivia closes her book and stares at Louis like she’s reading his every thought. “You’re more than what you think you are, you know. Dad thinks that you’re great, and he’s not wrong about people.”

 

Louis feels his face soften, “Thanks, Olivia. You're pretty amazing, too.”

 

Olivia smiles and puts her hand on Bea’s shoulder, gently shaking the smaller girl awake. The little area that they’re sitting at is directly beside a massive window that showcases the gentle snow that's falling over the London streets. Olivia is talking to Bea about the chapter that she just finished reading and the librarian is shelving books and Louis’ phone suddenly feels a lot heavier in his pocket. He scans his eyes across the barren library one last time before fishing his phone out and unlocking it. He opens the thread with Harry and tries to not feel too hurt about how his messages have all been read but not answered. He begins to type but quickly erases it when he hears Olivia shout a quick farewell to Louis and Bea. 

 

He feels his heart race faster in his chest -- if Olivia’s leaving then that means that Harry’s here. And suddenly the alcove of books and the window displaying the picture-perfect snowy London scene behind them makes him feel like he's in the perfect place to tell Harry that he wants to see more of him, that he thinks that if they get to know each other better then they can  _ be  _ more. 

 

But, when he turns to see where Olivia ran off to, it wasn't into Harry’s arms, but his sister’s. Olivia is excitedly talking to her aunt and waving goodbye to Louis and Bea and it's all so anticlimactic that it's kind of laughable. 

 

“You should text him, Dad,” Bea says from where she's still laying on the beanbag chair. 

 

Louis looks at his daughter, who has knots in her thin hair and a sleepy but knowing smile on her face. She window is throwing weird rays of light onto her small, rosy cheeks and she's smiling wide enough that Louis can see her missing tooth. 

 

“Text who?” Louis asks. 

 

“Harry. You like him, obviously, and Olivia says he likes you too.”

 

“It's probably best if I don't. I have you to think about and I don't want to ruin your friendship with Olivia if I make things awkward with her father. Anyways, it's highly likely that he won't reply.”

 

“Nothing can ruin my friendship with Liv,” Bea says surely. “We’re soul sisters. Uncle Niall always says you that you need someone to love, so why not Harry?”

 

“It's not that simple, Bea.”

 

“Why can't it be?” Bea stands up from where she's laying and stretches adorably. “It's Christmas, so if you ever want a miracle to happen to you then this is the perfect time to try! Anyways, haven't you always told me to never give up on something I want? You can't give up on Harry, just like how I won't give up on asking Santa for a briefcase for Christmas.”

 

Louis laughs and stands from the beanbag chair with a little bit of a struggle. Bea stares pointedly at his phone until he unlocks it. He reopens the thread, murmurs a quick prayer to whatever entity helps decide the fate of an idiot that has the possibility of falling in love one day, and presses send. 

 

_ hey harry, i know you haven't wanted to reply to me lately but i just thought that i should tell you that you were more than just a lad i had to plan a kid’s party with. i think that youre lovely and i would've really like to build a friendship with you. or maybe something more, but that just might be me being delusional. anyways, have a happy christmas. xx - lou  _

 

“Alright, I texted him.” Louis says. “It's up to him, now. Are you ready to go home?”

 

Bea pulls on her jacket and nods, “What are we eating tonight?”

 

“My special roast and mash, of course.”

 

Bea let's out a disgusted groan which makes Louis laugh. He doesn't tell her that Zayn is already at their house making pasta for them because she's too funny when she makes fun of Louis’ awful cooking. They walk home hand in hand, and Louis decides before they even get to the house that even if Harry decides to continue to ignore him, Bea will be enough to help him from feeling alone. 

 

// 

 

As soon as Louis finishes unlocking the door to his flat and pushes through the garland-infested doorframe, he is assaulted by a loud and kind of unorganized but still heartwarming rendition of the birthday song. It's Christmas Eve and he has just finished a ten hour shift and he honesty feels like he might pass out on his feet, but the sight of Niall, Zayn, and Bea wearing party hats and shoving a candle-infested dessert that doesn't look like a cake but might be one in his direction is enough to immediately put a smile on his face. Louis leans down and pulls Bea into an embrace, smacking a loud kiss to her cheek as she giggles out a  _ happy birthday, dear dad.  _ Niall takes a photo of Louis and his daughter on his phone and Zayn walks a bit closer to reveal that the candled dessert is actually a fucking pie. Their Christmas tree is glimmering in the low light of the flat and there’s a banner hung sloppily over the telly that says  _ Happy Birthday, Dad _ . The entire scene is so thoughtful and perfect that Louis nearly cries.

 

But if anyone asks, he is going to blame the emotional bit on the fact that he hasn’t slept in forty-eight hours because it’s the fucking holidays. 

“Lou!” Niall practically yells and wraps his arm around him and Bea. Zayn sets down the birthday pie and joins the embrace. “You look horrid! Do you want some Irish coffee?”

 

“No!” Louis laughs and shimmies out of the group hug. “Jesus, you cannot get me plastered the night before Christmas.”

 

“I’m just sayin’ you look like death warmed over. You sure you don’t want to join Zayn and I on vacation?”

 

Louis smirks and looks at Zayn, who visibly tenses at the thought of Louis and Bea crashing his secret romantic engagement vacation with Niall. Bea, who has ran to the corner of the room to grab a wrapped parcel, makes an alerted sound of distress. 

 

“I’m sorry, Uncle Niall, but Dad is taking me to Donny tomorrow! I’ll get to play with my cousins for a whole week!” Bea says happily and hands Louis the parcel. “Open this, please. It’s from me.”

 

Louis sits down on the couch, signalling for her to sit beside him, “You didn’t have to get me anything, love.”

 

“Well, I had some help,” Bea laughs. “I’m not a millionaire, Dad.”

 

“You’re not a millionaire _ yet _ ,” Louis corrects and Bea nods.

 

Bea anxiously waves her hands at the present for him to open it. Zayn is bringing out his phone to take pictures again and Niall is nursing a coffee mug full of some dastardly concoction while lounging across Zayn’s lap. Louis looks at them for a moment, and then at Bea, whose blue eyes are reflecting the soft glow of the Christmas lights  and thin lips are curled into an excited smile and half of him wishes that he could live in this moment forever. Louis closes his eyes, breathes, then tears the wrapping paper. His fingers shake a bit as he holds up the gift inside, eyes immediately looking over to Bea, who is just smiling proudly at him.

 

“How did you get my Rovers jersey signed by David  _ fucking  _ Beckham?” Louis asks, pulling Bea into a hug. 

 

He’s definitely crying now.

 

“I told Olivia I wanted to get you the best gift ever, so when she helped me think of ideas and she said that her dad was mates with David Beckham, I knew I had to do it. Do you like it?”

 

“I love it, my little BumbleBea.” Louis murmurs, kissing her head. “Thank you so much, you didn’t have to.”

 

“Good, you’re welcome,” Bea giggles and pulls out of his embrace a bit to point an accusatory finger at him. “Also, you need to put money in the Swear Jar.”

 

Louis just laughs, pulling her into another hug. He distantly hears Zayn and Niall saying something about getting the food ready to eat. Louis can’t seem to get the smile off of his face, even when he thinks about how Harry helped with his gift even if he never did text Louis back. He has Bea, and that’s really all that matters. 

 

“I have another gift, too,” Bea tells him.

 

“ _ Another  _ gift? You’re spoiling me, darling.”

 

“The other one isn’t really a gift it’s just a--” Bea pauses, and the doorbell rings from the hall. “Surprise?”

 

Louis shoots her a weird look and stands, gently laying the jersey over the arm of the couch before walking towards the door. He doesn’t bother checking the peephole because it’s been fucked with a scratch down the middle for over two years now. He takes a deep breath, adjusts his fringe and opens the door. 

 

The first thing that hits him is the subtle scent of stupidly expensive cologne and then his heart is suddenly stuck in his throat. He inhales sharply when he looks up and is met with the stereotypically emerald eyes that can only belong to Harry fucking Styles. He’s standing at Louis’ fucking door, holding an embarrassingly large poinsettia in one hand while he smiles apologetically at Louis. 

 

“Hi--” Harry breathes out.

 

“You know,” Louis says, hand tightening on the door, “I can’t decide. Showing up at someone’s doorstep uninvited is a bit of a druglord move. But, the look on your face and the flowers and the fact you probably expect me to jump in your arms right now is very cliche-moviestar of you.”

 

“How about you forget the weird labels and think of me as just Harry?”

 

“Well. Does ‘Just Harry’ make a habit of randomly dropping off of the face of the Earth to make me feel like a fucking idiot?” Louis clears his throat. “For some stupid reason, I really started to like you, and it lowkey feels like you’re toying with my feelings.”

 

“It’s not like that,” Harry says, voice edging on hysterical as he takes a step closer to Louis. “At first I was scared, because I never get close with people. Especially fit, witty people like you. I saw potential in you, too. I thought-- I  _ think  _ that if we got to know each other better then we can become something great. You… you’re different, Louis. You’re hilarious and so fucking caring and I wish that I could put into words how  _ bright  _ you are. And I thought, why would someone like you want to get involved with someone like me that literally lives a clusterfuck of a life? I thought I was saving you from me so I just ignored you, even though I just really,  _ really  _ wanted to kiss you and sit around and admire what you’re like.”

 

“If you were so set on believing that bullshit-- which, that is bullshit. You gotta stop thinking of the worst case scenarios and just  _ live _ , Harry.-- then why are you here now with a bloody poinsettia?”

 

Harry smiles in a lopsided way that makes one of his dimples protrude, “Olivia yelled at me and told me I was acting like an idiot and that if I wanted to be happy with you, then I should do everything in my power to do it. I feel like Bea might’ve inspired her to do it.”

 

Louis laughs, “She probably did.”

 

“So, are we okay, now?”

 

“No,” Louis releases his grip on the door and leans against the frame. “If you want to work towards a relationship with me, then we have a lot of other shite to talk about because we have kids and a whirlwind romance isn’t very rational. But, it is my birthday and we’ve been standing under a mistletoe for the past five minutes. We can figure the rest out later, but for now, just kiss me.”

 

Harry breaks into a dazzling smile, his eyes shimmering as he drops the monstrous poinsettia to the ground and slots himself against Louis and presses his soft lips against Louis’. His mouth tastes like peppermints and he’s warm and Louis would be lying if he acted like he didn’t feel like they fit perfectly together. It’s practically a Christmas miracle, and even though there’s a lot of shit that still needs to be said and a birthday pie to be eaten and meddling daughters to chastise and two best friends that still need to get engaged, it’s good enough for now. 

 

**_THE END_ **

**Author's Note:**

> again, sorry if it sucked. all mistakes are my own. thank you to everyone that participated in or read things from the exchange! this was a lot of work and i hope you guys enjoyed it as much as i did. 
> 
> hmu on [tumblr](http://voguelourry.tumblr.com) if u wanna scream about larry. kudos and comments are much appreciated!


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